He Guessed
by SnoopyGirl213
Summary: He guessed the hardest part was admitting to himself that he loved her. Respected her, absolutely. Trusted her, without a doubt. There was no question about that. But love? That was a bit much. Jay/Cass


**A/N: Jumping on the Jay/Cass train, even though I should be putting in a new chapter of Graduate…****yolo**

**This takes place after Jay joins the BatFam, but there isn't a specific time when it takes place.**

He guessed the hardest part was admitting to himself that he loved her. Respected her, absolutely. Trusted her, without a doubt. There was no question about that.

But love? That was a bit much.

He cared about her, was that good enough? There wasn't anything he wouldn't do for her…ok, maybe that was a bit of a stretch. Luckily there wasn't much she wanted from him. Bruce didn't trust him to go on missions alone, and, even then, only Cass and Dick were willing to go with him regularly. (Maybe Damian would go with him one day, but he was pretty sure Bruce didn't want Jason's influence on the already half-corrupted demon child.) Even then, Dick was in Bludhaven or otherwise occupied to regularly babysit his little brother.

Because, in the end, that's what Bruce wanted for Jason: a babysitter.

Cass was his constant companion therefore. That was fine, she understood him. They were unalike in so many ways. Even so, there was a certain rebellious nature in her that drew them together. Sometimes he wondered if that was all he was to her: a rebellion. Everyone was entitled to a rebellious phase in life, hell, Bruce hadn't totally grown out of his. Jason guessed he hadn't either.

While, it did hurt a little to think that maybe she didn't feel the same way about him, he really didn't blame her. He wasn't even totally convinced what he felt was really love. And even if it was love, who was to say it was to last for long? Certainly, whatever it was, it was too soon to act on these feelings.

Regardless of his musings, they were partners first and foremost. Brother and sister.

"Whoa, going too far Jason," he muttered to himself. "Sorry Jason."

She was waiting for him.

"You're late," she muttered, not pausing from peeking through her binoculars.

"Miss me?"

She didn't answer. That hurt a bit, just a twinge.

"What's going on?" He came to crouch next to her.

"Not much."

"There's got to be something."

"Muggings, Batgirl took care of it."

"Blondie taking all the fun huh?"

Silence.

Oracle hailed the two of them, telling them to take care of some thugs near the East End. Cass was already on her way. Jason gave himself a moment to stare after her, just a second. She wasn't unattractive, in fact, her body was pretty…nice. So nice he didn't think was a good time to think about it. But the seed had been planted, and, well, who was he to stop nature from letting seeds grow.

"Biology metaphor, icky," he told himself. "Well it's probably more like botany, but what does it matter?"

With a swift kick he joined her in the fray. So maybe he jumped in front of her and took a few punches, so what? She hated when he did that.

He felt her boot make contact with his side, he yelped in pain.

"Ow! Fuck Ca- Black Bat! What was that for?" He swore some more and held the bruise he'd gotten two nights ago from being thrown at a dumpster.

"Stop taking hits for me." She was mad, but that was ok. When she was mad, she talked to him, she acknowledged him beyond the cordiality that came with working together.

He shrugged. "I don't take hits for you." Play dumb, that was his best asset sometimes.

"Lies."

"So what if I do? What's a hit or two?"

"I take hits better than you."

Ok, there was being mad, and then there was insulting his masculinity. "Is that so?"

"Yes." She drew out the "s" in a hiss.

" Tell me, which one of us was beaten and blown up?"

Silence. He hated silence between the two of them, he didn't want to fight with her.

"Ok, I'll stop, I'm sorry."

She looked at him. Her face was totally covered, but he knew that look. He'd been given that look by pretty much everyone he knew.

_Yeah right. _

She knew he wouldn't stop, but she also knew she couldn't stop him.

She nodded up to the building, and climbed the fire escape up to the roof. He followed hot on her heels.

They sat on the roof, chatting intermittently. The most prominent thing about Cass was her size. She was short, and thin. Everything about her was small: her fingers, her body, her breasts, her waist, hell, even her talk was small.

"It's getting light out," she said after almost fifteen minutes of silence.

"Go home if you want to," Jason said. She looked at him.

_I can't let you stay by yourself._

"I'll go home to."

"Will you?" Admittedly, there had been a few times when she had gone home and he'd stayed up to do his own business.

"I will." He held three fingers up. "Scouts honor."

She just kept looking at him.

"Tell you what, I don't live too far from here. About a block and a half. You can follow me and make sure I go there."

_How do I know you'll stay?_

"I'm bushed, now way am I going back out until tomorrow, or the day after." This look was unintelligible. This was his least favorite thing about Cass: sometimes he could read her like an open book. The rest, she was an enigmatic as predicting the distant future.

"Cat got your tongue Baby Bat?"

"Fine."

He smirked.

He enjoyed this so much. So maybe he took a detour or two, jumping on the wrong buildings. The feeling of running with her just on his heels was addicting. He could tell she was getting mad at his detours, so he ended his fun all too soon. He opened his window, and stuck one leg in.

"You wanna come in for a cup of coffee or something. Just to rest for a minute?"

"No, no coffee. I want to sleep."

"Water then? I have beer and maybe some wine… maybe."

She was silent, and he was about to give up on his venture. "Pop?" The word struck him dumb for a second.

"Um, yeah, I'd have to look at what exactly I have."

"No caffeine."

"No caffeine, got it. Come on in."

He climbed in, and stepped over the couch. He turned to try and help her through, but she was fine on her own. For a second he wished he had cleaned. Empty plates and cups, beer and pop cans, socks, shoes, half-eaten food. He pulled off his helmet and set it on the coffee table. His leather jacket was thrown on the armchair. He piled as many plates, cans, and scraps of food as he could into an empty pizza box, and took it to the kitchen.

"I have 7up and Cok- wait, no caffeine, got it. 7up?"

"Yes." He grabbed a beer for himself and came out with a 7up in hand. Cass looked so odd sitting on his couch. Her totally black costume sans the yellow outline of a bat on her chest, her mask lay limp on the cushion next to her. She tugged on her boots and set them neatly next to her feet. She pulled off her gauntlets and gloves, taking the can from Jason's hand. He made sure she could open the can. One time he discovered she didn't know how to use a can opener, so he tried to keep his mind open when it came to doing domestic tasks.

He pulled his own shoes off, and as well as his Kevlar shirt. In a wife-beater and pants, he drank his beer.

"So…" He said. She sipped her 7up. "How's the family?"

"Well."

"Are you still living at the Manor?"

"No."

"Own apartment?"

"Yes."

"I'll have to visit sometime."

A twitch that could've been a smile jolted the corners of her mouth. "That would be nice."

That felt nice. He smiled softly. He wanted to express that he was grateful she went on patrol with him. That he was grateful she came over today.

"How's your 7up?" That was good enough.

"Fine. How's the beer?"

"Ok, it's ok."

They were silent.

"Jason?"

"Yes Cass?"

"Why do you take hits for me?"

He shrugged and sipped his beer. "What's another hit to me?"

"Then what's another hit to me?" she rebutted.

"You don't deserve to be hit."

"Because I'm a woman?"

He made a face at her. "That's got nothing to do with it." Ok, that was a lie. Well, even then, it was more the fact that she was "his" woman. That she was under his care.

He guessed that was another reason he preferred Cass's company over Dick's. He liked at least thinking he was taking care of her, even though she was the one keeping an eye on him.

"Then what has it got to do with?"

"You're my partner, we're in this together."

She was silent.

Jason became lost in his thoughts as he finished off his beer. He placed the can on the table and leaned back in the armchair. The faint buzz of the beer was pleasant. He glanced over at Cass and realized the reason she was quiet was because she was drifting off.

"Hey Cass." Her head jolted as she was woken up.

"Yes?"

"You just want to crash here?"

She looked around wordlessly, almost dazed.

"You can use my shower, and I think I have a shirt and a pair of shorts that'll fit you well enough. I'll take the couch, you can take my bed."

She seemed to wordlessly accept. Off went her costume, with a short pair of shorts and her own wife-beater. "I will take the couch. It's your house."

"Then sleep with me." Instantly regretting the phrasing. "In my bed, sleep in the bed, and I'll be there, sleeping too, and nothing more."

She didn't respond. She padded into the bathroom and turned on the shower. He gathered the clothes he'd told her and knocked on the bathroom.

"Yes Jason?"

"I have those clothes, are you decent?"

"Come."

He opened the door, and steam curled out of the bathroom. He placed the clothes on the counter. He ducked out and got ready for bed. He tucked himself under the covers, leaving room for her. She padded softly into the room and tucked herself into the covers.

She settled into the covers, she squished her nose up until she felt comfortable. Jason let his eyes remain half-open to watch her fall asleep.

If she was going to continue to do things like that with her nose, there was no way he could avoid falling head-over-heels in love with her.

**A/N: I don't really know where I was going with this. I got the idea for half of it while in the car to get groceries, but then I forgot most of it. I guess it was better in my head. I hope they're not too OOC**

**No flames pleas**

**No reviews necessary**


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